When the topic of college comes up with his friends, senior Josh Mauthe anxiously twiddles his thumbs as he thinks about his future. It’s been at the back of his mind for months and has recently consumed his thoughts. While his friends pick their dorm rooms and pack flowing dresses and cargo shorts for college, Josh will be packing suit jackets, slacks and language dictionaries.
For two years, Mauthe will embark on a mission trip through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the
Mormon Church. Mauthe leaves for Argentina on August 13.
Starting at the age of 18 for men and 19 for women, any youth in the LDS church can choose to take a mission trip where they will teach and preach the gospel of Jesus to anyone.
“It’s pretty much what everybody thinks of when going on a mission,” Mauthe said. “It’s to go and to preach and teach the Gospel to others.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in New York by founder Joseph Smith. The church considers itself to be the restoration of the church founded by Jesus Christ. When its members become young adults, it is recommended they take two years of their life to volunteer as representatives of the Mormon Church called Mormon missionaries.
According to Mauthe, not many people know about his faith. When they learn about it, they ask about how many moms he has, which is a reference to polygamy, which Mormons had practiced in the 18th century. However, he points out that there is not that much of a difference between Mormonism and Christianity.
“Technically speaking, the typical ‘Mormon’ not many people know what that is,” Mauthe said. “There’s nothing really different about us. The difference between me and most stereotypes of Mormons is I am a lot more outgoing about a lot more subjects instead of just on a few.”
Some male members of the LDS church are a part of the priesthood, which gives them the power and authority to act in the name of God for the salvation of humankind. According to Mauthe, members of the priesthood are encouraged to go on the mission trip.
“At 12, you start out as a deacon,” Mauthe said. “Then a teacher at 16. I’m actually a priest right now, since I’ve turned 18. Once you leave on your mission, you’re ordained to [be] an elder.”
He already interviewed with his bishop and stake president, so his mission papers were sent to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Salt Lake City, Utah. They decided to send him to the Argentinian mission for the next two years.
When Mauthe received his call, he wasn’t home. So when he got home, his family and friends were waiting for him to finally open his envelope.
“For the next hour, I was calling people and telling them,” Mauthe said. “It was actually a really big surprise. I mean I wanted to go somewhere warm. It’s warm. It’s amazing. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a foreign language or not. I’m speaking Spanish, so it’s not that foreign. So I’m happy about that.”
A missionary can be sent anywhere in the world. However, there are a lot of rules to protect the missionaries, the people they interact with and the church from anything that could happen he says. For example, if a missionary is placed in a coastal area such as Hawaii, they are not allowed to swim.
“One of the things that I think is awesome is you can talk to any missionary that’s on their mission and anybody that’s gotten off their mission [about this],” Mauthe said. “There are a lot of rules, but if you actually get caught up in the work that you’re doing and actually want to talk to these people and want to teach and lose yourself in the work, you don’t think about it, you don’t worry about it.”
Before a missionary can begin his or her mission, missionaries must first attend training at the MTC. They spend one week at the MTC if they are going to an English-speaking country and three weeks if they are going to a foreign-speaking country.
“In those three weeks, they teach you the basics of the language and you’re sent out, and you learn it as you talk to people and you [converse] and you [converse] and teach,” Mauthe said.
During the two years, he will live in a mission headed by a mission president. Each mission consists of two per ward and three to four wards per building.
“You check in with [the mission president] every night to tell them what all is going on, and you have to be back in your apartment by a certain time,” Mauthe said.
Once there, missionaries and their companions are free to go door-to-door talking to people and interacting with people anywhere.
“They used to not allow it, but now they’re starting a new thing where whenever you go out, you and your companion get an iPad you can actually use those to help teach,” Mauthe said. “So we are allowed to use Facebook. We can email and write letters home to our families.”
According to Mauthe, the most exciting part of going is the fact that he is going on the mission.
“For most places, it’s not just you and your companion somewhere in the middle of nowhere,” Mauthe said. “No matter where you are, there are other missionaries. And throughout your mission, every month to couple of months, you get transferred to another area, so you’re never in the same area for the full two years.”
No matter where he would have been sent, Mauthe has not been worried about leaving his ward because he believes the church is family.
“Just the feeling that I have had when other people open theirs, I mean, it practically says ‘you’ve been called to go on the such and such mission. The feeling in the room changes when they read it out,” Mauthe said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”